–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ExpertSource:

TOPIC: A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics found the numbers of U.S. children with food allergies seem to be increasing, according to an article by The Associated Press. The first federal study of its kind revealed that food allergies in American children are on the rise and now affect about 3 million kids or four percent of children and teenagers under the age of 18. The number of young people who had a food or digestive allergy increased 18 percent between 1997 and 2007. The report found that eight types of food account for 90 percent of all food allergies: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat. Experts believe the increase may be due to parents getting more frequent medical checkups for their children as well as being more aware of food allergies in their children. The study was conducted in 2007 via a door-to-door survey of the households of 9,500 U.S. children under the age of 18.

EXPERTS: ExpertSource can offer several highly qualified experts to comment on this story:

Scott Mandell, President, CEO and Co-Founder, Enjoy Life Foods

The new CDC study indicates that about one in 26 children had food allergies last year, up from one in 29 kids in 1997. “That’s an awful lot of kids to keep happy,” says Scott Mandell, President, CEO and Co-Founder of Enjoy Life Foods, the country's leading manufacturer of allergy-friendly and gluten-free foods. “That’s the goal here at Enjoy Life Foods, and that’s why we’re always developing and introducing delicious and innovative allergy-friendly foods as quickly as we possibly can,” he adds.

According to Mandell, the company added as many as six new products in the past 12 months, including the first-ever dairy-, nut- and soy-free chocolate bars — and is planning to launch three more products before the year’s end. Currently, the company offers 29 products including allergy-friendly and gluten-free soft-baked cookies, snack bars, granola, trail mixes, bagels, chocolate bars and semi-sweet chocolate chips. All are free of the eight most common allergens: wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish and shellfish, are gluten-free, and are made in a dedicated nut- and gluten-free facility.

The increasing numbers of kids with food allergies is also contributing to Enjoy Life's tremendous sales growth. In September 2008, the company was named for the second consecutive year to the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing privately-held companies.

An estimated 12 million Americans (adults and children) are affected by food allergies. A growing awareness of the problem has helped Mandell get his Enjoy Life Foods (ELF) products onto the shelves of more than 5,000 stores throughout the U.S. Mandell has seen first hand overwhelming evidence of the growing consumer need/demand for allergen-free foods:

Leading grocery store chains (such as Whole Foods, Kroger and Wegmans) are increasing the number of allergen-free and gluten-free foods that they are offering to their shoppers as a direct response to consumer requests for more allergy-friendly foods
Many retailers also offer in-store classes, tours and food lists to help those with food allergies figure out what they can and cannot eat
Media attention and public education campaigns are helping drive consumer awareness
Enjoy Life was recently named to the Inc. 500’s list of fastest growing privately-held companies (9/08) for the second consecutive year and was profiled on the Food Network’s Unwrapped show
More and more schools and public venues are declaring themselves peanut free and implementing food allergy emergency plans to protect their students
FDA’s FALCPA labeling requirements (effective Jan 2006) were enacted to help protect food allergic consumers from hidden ingredients that could impact their health
Researchers are working hard on developing an allergen-free peanut, although much more research and testing still needs to be done
Many parents of children with autism are seeing benefits from putting their children on a gluten-free casein-free diet (GFCF) and awareness of dietary intervention for the management of autism is increasing.
For more information, visit www.enjoylifefoods.com

PR Contact: Susan Schneider

847-438-4465

prwhiz@aol.com

Gina Clowes, Founder, AllergyMoms.com

Gina Clowes is the mom of a child with multiple food allergies and the founder of the online support group AllergyMoms.com serving thousands of families and professional members worldwide. Active in food allergy advocacy, her interviews and parenting tips have appeared in numerous print, radio, and television features including People and Child Magazine. Gina lives in Southwestern Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons.

AllergyMoms.com is a nationally recognized website that provides support for parents of kids with food allergies. AllergyMoms.com features articles and products for children with peanut allergy, milk allergy, egg allergy, wheat allergy, nut allergy, soy allergy, sesame allergy, shellfish allergy and multiple food allergies. It also provides new food allergy recipes (including dairy-free, gluten-free, and peanut-free recipes) as well as the latest news and research on breast-feeding, hypoallergenic formulas, eczema, reflux, anaphylaxis and school policy. For more information, please visit www.allergymoms.com.

Gina recently published her first book, One of the Gang: Nurturing the Souls of Children with Food Allergies, which points out how food is used in almost every type of celebration, and is often a focal point of these events. Even in day-to-day life, food is everywhere. Children who have food allergies may be excluded from many of these activities. Some seem to take it in stride, while others feel varying degrees of sadness, anger, or fear. This book is meant to shed light on the emotional side and to help children cope with these challenges. For more information on Gina's new book, please visit AuthorHouse.com or Amazon.com.

PR Contact: Susan Schneider

847-438-4465

prwhiz@aol.com

ExpertSource provides academic and industry experts to the media at no charge. Journalists are encouraged to submit queries to ExpertSource when seeking experts on specific subjects. An online registration form is available at http://www.businesswire.com/.